Sheet-metal culvert.



' J. H. DEAN.

SHEET METAL CULVBRT.

Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

2 SHEE 8-SHEET1.

J. H. DEAN.

SHEET METAL GULVERT.

APPLICATION FILED FEE. a, 19.13,

1,083,062.. Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

gvwemtot COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH IO-,WASHINGTON. 0! cv T Fi JOHN H. DEAN, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

SHEET-METAL CULVERT.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN H. DEAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet- Metal Culverts, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to sheet metal culverts or pipes to beused as drains, aqueducts or the like, and more particularly to such culverts of the butt-joint type particularly set forth and covered in Patent No. 1,049,816, ranted to me on January 7, 1918, wherein the same are built of sections having abutting edges, which sections are adapted to be knocked down and nested together in shipment and storage and to be set up and formed into a complete culvert or pipe at the place where the same is to be used.

The type of butt-joint nestable culvert herein referred to is one in which the culvert is made up of metal sections, preferably corrugated half sections, which sections have rigid metal strips or bars welded or riveted to the sides of said sections at or near their longitudinal edges, the strips or bars serving as a strengthening means for the sections, and so arranged with respect to said metal sections that adjacent strips of com plementary sections may be connected together by suitable fastening means for holding said sections in connected relation for forming a complete culvert.

The object of this invention is to provide means for correctly positioning the longitudinal edges of complementary sections in true abutting position, which means is independent of the fastening devices used for holding the sections in connected relation.

-With this object in view, the invention consists in providing members rigidly secured to the metal strips, and so arranged with respect thereto, that the members of adjacent strips of complementary culvert sections, are adapted to engage and interlock one with the other for the purpose of correctly positioning the longitudinal edges of said complementary sections.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure l is a side elevation of a portion Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 3, 1913.

Patented Dec. 3%, 1913. Serial No. 745,902.

of a culvert showing the sections of the same constructed in accordance with my in vention and in connected relation one with the other; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of said culvert; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the culvert taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the metal strips of complementary sections, and illustrating the interlocking members for correctly positioning the longitudinal edges of complementary sections.

Referring to the drawings, the comple mentary sections indicated at 1 are pr0- vided with corrugations which are arranged parallel with opposite ends thereof, and these sections which are preferably half sections, are adapted, when arranged in assembled position to form a complete culvert, to have the corrugations of upper and lower sections coincide with each other, or in other words, to have each convex and concave corrugation of an upper section directly in line with the convex and concave corrugations respectively of the section below it. The sections are constructed without any outstanding flanges, and are adapted to have the longitudinal edges of complementary sections abut, as indicated at 2, so that when the sections are connected together with their longitudinal edges meeting or abutting, the

corrugated culvert, for all intents and purposes, has the appearance and strength of an integral corrugated cylinder. As referred to above, the culvert sections are provided at or near their longitudinal edges, with rigid metal strips or bars 3, which are secured to the convex corrugations of each section, preferably by welding or riveting the same thereto, and it will be noted that passageways, as indicated at 4, are formed between the sides of the corrugated culvert sections and the said metal strips at points intermediate the convex corrugations of said sections, and these passageways are provided for receiving any particular type of fastening means which is adapted for tying or connecting together adjacent strips of complementary sections, if it be found desirable to use the same. The novelty of the present invent-ion, however, relates particularly to the interlocking means between the adjacent metal strips of complementary sections for correctly positioning the longitudinal abutting edges of complementary sections, and it is to be noted that each of the metal strips 3 is provided with a plurality of members 5, which are arranged at an angle to the metal strip, and are adapted to cooperate and interlock with the members carried by an adjacent strip of a complementary section. Cooperating members of adjacent metal strips are provided with a tongue and groove connection, the tongue being indicated at 6 and the groove indicated at 7, so that when said tongue and groove are in cooperating relation one with the other, they serve to prevent any sidewise movement of the sections with respect to each other, thereby serving to hold and retain the longitudinal edges of complementary sections in abutting relation. The members 5 are perforated as indicated at 8, to receive bolts or rivets for connecting cooperating members of adjacent strips together for holding complementary sections in connected relation, but it is to be understood that it is not necessary to use this type of fastening means for the purpose just described, as complementary sections may be held firmly in connected relation by providing other types of fastening means, such for instance as any form of key or clip which may serve to tie adjacent strips together. It will therefore be understood that any type of fastening means which will serve the purpose of holding complementary sections in connected relation may be used, and that the important feature of this invention resides in providing means independent of said fastening means, which has for its purpose to cor rectly position, prior to fastening the sections together, the longitudinal abutting edges of said sections.

While this invention is illustrated in connection with corrugated metal culverts, it is to be understood that it may equally as well be applied to plain culvert sections which are so constructed as to have longitudinal edges of complementary sections abut.

Having thus described my inventiomwhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat-- ent is 1. A sheet metal culvert comprising complementary sections having longitudinal edges which abut to form a complete culvert without outstanding flanges, means for fastening said sections together, and means independent of said fastening means for prop- 'erly positioning the longitudinal edges of said sections in true abutting relation.

2. A sheet metal culvert comprising complementary sections having longitudinal abutting edges, metal strips or bars secured to the sides of said sections along the longitudinal edges thereof, interlocking means carried by adjacent strips of complementary sections for properly positioning the longitudinal edges of said sections in true abutting relation, and means for fastening and retaining the sections in connected relation.

3. A sheet metal culvert having longitudinal edges which abut to form a complete culvert without outstanding flanges, meansfor fastening said edges together, and means independent of said fastening means for properly positioning the longitudinal edges in abutting relation.

4. A sheet metal culvert comprising complementary sections having longitudinal abutting edges, metal strips orbars secured to the sides of said sections along the longitudinal edges thereof, cooperating members carried by adjacent strips of complementary sections, said members having a tongue and groove connection serving to properly position the longitudinal edges of complementary sections in true abutting relation, and means for fastening and retaining the sections in connected relation.

5. A sheet metal culvert comprising compleinentary sections having longitudinal abutting edges, metal strips or bars secured to the sides of said sections along the longitudinal edges thereof, members carried by adjacent strips of complementary sections for properly positioning the longitudinal edges of said sections in true abutting relation, said members extending at right angles to the metal strips, and means for fastening and retaining the sections in connected relation.

6. A sheet metal culvert having longitudinal abutting edges, metal strips or bars secured to the sides of said culvert along the longitudinal edges thereof, means for fastening said strips together, and interlocking members carried by said strips and adapted to properly position the longitudinal edges of the culvert in true abutting relation.

7 A sheet metal culvert comprising complementary sections having longitudinal abutting edges, metal strips or bars secured to the sides of said sections along the longitudinal edges thereof, interlocking members carried by adjacent strips of complementary sections for properly positioning the longitudinal edges of said sections, and means for fastening said interlocking members together.

8. A sheet metal culvert having longitudinal abutting edges, metal strips or bars secured to the sides of said culvert along the longitudinal edges thereof forming passageways at intervals between said strips and the sides of said culvert, interlocking members carried by said strips and adapted to properly position the longitudinal edges of the culvert in true abutting relation, and keys or clips adapted to engage within the passageways for connecting the strips together thus retaining the longitudinal edges of the culvert in proper connected relation.

9. A sheet metal culvert comprising complementary sections said sections so formed as to permit only the extreme longitudinal edges thereof to abut when the sections are in assembled relation, means for fastening said sections together, and means independent of said fastening means for properly po- 10 sitioning the longitudinal edges of the sections in true abut-ting relation.

In testimony whereof I have affixed by signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN H. DEAN. Witnesses:

GRACE WEsTBRooKs,

H. O. BERNARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

